Chapter 5 The Dream

Ady POV

Jasper looked at his wristwatch. It was peak hours. Because of this, there will be many people on the train, buses, and jeeps. Together, we climbed the stairs to get to the ticket window. Although the line was long, people moved quickly through it.

As to kill time, the two of us talked. I interviewed Jasper as if I were a television talk show host.

"Are you planning to go abroad?"

Jasper nodded. "I plan to travel around the world."

"Huh? Well, the course you took should be aviation, not engineering."

"Engineering tuition is cheaper," Jasper said, laughing with a hand on his head.

After a while, we reached the ticket window. Jasper immediately paid for the two of us. When we got our tickets, we rushed onto the platform to wait for the train. Jasper turned toward the crowd, who were also waiting for the train.

"Wow, it seems like I'll need to put my muscles to work here," Jasper said, then squeezed his biceps. I laughed at what he did. "You're making fun of me! Do you know you'll use this as a handle later?"

"Really? It looks soft because it's just fat." I giggled.

"Hey, my loves. It's hard. I guess you want me to try it on you."

It surprised me when Jasper embraced me unexpectedly in the middle of a crowd. Soon after, I pulled away from his embrace, and he flashed a sly grin and a wink.

"What? I'm good at hugging, aren't I? My muscles are hard so that no fool will come near you." Jasper said.

I looked at him blankly. It was the first time a man hugged me in the middle of a crowd. However, I didn't feel that I was molested.

"Are you angry, my loves?" Jasper asked, noticing my silence. "I'm not a maniac, promise!" He raised his left hand. "I'm just comfortable with you and...." he lowered his hand and directed it to the strap of his bag slung over his shoulder. "Nobody's going to be angry, right?"

"No one will be upset other than the security personnel and the senior travelers traveling with us. It is because you did PDA."

Jasper scratched his head. "It was just a friendly hug. But okay, I won't do it without your permission."

I raised an eyebrow. 'And this man still has plans to hug me again?'

After a while, we heard the approaching train. Jasper immediately took my bag, which surprised me.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked.

"It's going to be hard to get in. Just trust me, okay?"

Jasper grabbed both my shoulders as he stood behind me. When the train stopped, Jasper held my hand. Jasper entered first to push with the men so that only I could join in. The crowd continues to push the passengers inside the train until we hear the door signaling that the door is about to close. And because there was a crowd between us, Jasper pulled me with all his strength. He got rid of the men who were an obstacle between us. Jasper immediately wrapped one arm around my back while the other was holding onto the handrail on the ceiling.

Smiling, Jasper bent down to look at me. He was tall and had to look down to make eye contact with me. "What? Are you okay?"

I had to lift my head to look at him. He was tall, and I thought he was about 6 feet tall, and I was only 5′6".

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. H-how did you do that?" I asked in surprise.

I can see how Jasper breaks the men blocking the train door by pulling me towards him. I was not the only one amazed, but also the other passengers and even the men he pulled out. It was too hard to do with nearly a dozen men blocking us.

"Jeez, is that still being asked? You know the answer to that. Hold my hard biceps." He said with a sly grin. I held it as he ordered. "So, do you believe my biceps are hard?"

"Yes, I believe you. It's hard," I said, to his satisfaction.

"That's not the only thing that's hard on me..." Jasper smiled mischievously at her.

"Tss, enough bragging. You might slip up, and another hard "thing" comes out of your mouth," I said. Jasper chuckled but said nothing.

Later, the train halted, and all the standing passengers moved. Because people are crowded and clustered in the wrong movement of the train, all the passengers also move. Jasper held tightly to the handrail and behind me while I hugged him. I was holding his clothes from behind, and one of my hands was on his biceps. Our eyes met, and he smiled at me.

"Looks like riding the train will be my favorite," he whispered.

I swallowed and immediately averted my eyes from Jasper. "Can you, Jasper, don't put me through those moves? Later, others will think that you like me."

Jasper chuckled and frowned when I caught another glimpse of him.

"Seriously, me? Can't YOU be the one who likes me?" he even stretched the word "you" to tease me.

"Excuse me, men who smell are not my type."

"Come on! I don't smell my loves! I smell like a baby. You can even kiss my armpit."

"Smell your foot on a baby. You don't smell like a baby. You smell like you are making a baby." I joked.

"Is that so? You want us to make a baby?" Jasper mischievously replied to my joke. "Ouch!" he felt my fingernail delicately press against the skin on his back.

I said nothing, and Jasper just smiled. And now, I felt something strange again. With so many people on the train, I have a strange feeling that someone is looking at me, watching me. I had goosebumps. I turned around and couldn't tell who was staring at me. I immediately stroked my neck with one hand. It was the same feeling I had in the library earlier. I suddenly felt nervous. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the feeling, instead tightening my grip on Jasper's clothes.

A few minutes later, Jasper and I also got off the train. We walked down the stairs together. At the bottom of the train station, tricycles were waiting, and because it was still rush hour, Jasper and I sat side by side inside the tricycle. The tricycle quickly filled up, so even though the two of them were cramped inside, I barely moved forward, and only half of my butt was sitting on the seat. On the other hand, Jasper was bent down, looking like he had to fit inside the tricycle. Instead of being annoyed, I couldn't stop laughing.

"You look cute, like a sardine stuffed into a can," I said, laughing.

Jasper glanced at me. "Oh, I've become cute in your eyes. Does that mean you admit you have a crush on me?"

"Yeah, I will crash your face."

Jasper chuckled. "Jeez, do you think I'll make it out alive?"

"Of course, I should be the one you ask if I'm still alive before we get to the house. You're too big!"

Jasper laughed, and so did I. A few moments later; the tricycle stopped in front of our house. Jasper immediately got out of the car and stretched.

"Thank you, Kuya!" said Jasper.

The tricycle that brought us inside the subdivision was allowed by the HOA (Homeowners Association) to prevent the entry of other people who don't live in the village.

Jasper handed my bag to me when he entered our gate. My granny came out and greeted me with a smile. She looked at Jasper after.

"Jasper, can you and my granddaughter go together?"

"Yes, grandma, I've been keeping an eye out on her."

"What a hero," I said, mocking him.

My granny laughed. "Come on, have dinner here. Join us."

"Next time, grandma. Papa will come home, and he wanted us to eat together."

"Is that so? Okay, if you say so..."

I glanced at Jasper. "Oh, are you going to kiss me?" Jasper joked when he noticed I was looking at him.

"Kiss your foot. Anyway, thank you."

"You're welcome!" Jasper said with a smile.

I smiled and followed my granny into the house. My granny's aura was strange that night, but I couldn't tell. I felt she was pleased but couldn't think of a reason. When I asked, she did not give me an obvious answer.

After dinner, I immediately went up to my room. I dropped my things on the floor and lay down on the bed.

"Excellent, this feels great!"

It was like I was lying in a cloud at that moment. Putting my back on the bed gave me a nice and cozy feeling. I closed my eyes for a moment.

"Help! Help us!"

Mom's screams almost deafened me as the water gradually washed away our car at the same time as it hit me.

"Mom, I'm scared..."

We heard a knocking from outside the car. A man is trying to hit the car with a fist. As my head went deeper into the water in the car, I panicked. I kept hitting the car window and pulling the door handle repeatedly. It feels like someone cut a bolt of electricity through my body. I can't even breathe anymore.

'Am I going to die?'

Then I thought it was probably my last breath, but something soft suddenly touched my mouth. Air comes in through my mouth, and someone squeezes my nose. I felt like I was floating when it happened.

'Not enough, I need more air...'

My body was lifted for a few seconds and pressed against something hard.

"Miss, wake up! Miss!"

I heard a man's voice, so I tried to open my eyes. I could barely see the young boy until everything went dark.

I tossed back on the bed, panting and drenched in sweat. As I combed my hair with my fingers, I thought I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep simply by closing my eyes.

'That dream again..'